Whether you travel for business or for pleasure, following the rules of global and local etiquette will often foster goodwill that will help you achieve your travel goals. 
- Travel Etiquette R E M I B R I D O T
Traveling Abroad Successfully Rule 1
The first rule of travel etiquette is to remember that even luminaries make etiquette mistakes. When George Bush Sr. was president, he visited Japan and spent time in Kyoto with the Emperor and Prime Minister. He played a game with them that is remarkably similar to hacky-sack. The goal is to form a circle and take turns trying to keep an object in the air only using one’s feet. The game did not go well for President Bush as he consistently connected with the ball in a powerful fashion, sending it too far away to be kicked into the air by any other participant. At one point, he even raised his hands and said “I win!” in a joking fashion.
- Traveling Abroad SuccessfullySprengben [why not get a friend] / Foter / CC BY-NC-SA
The point being that by ignoring local custom and tradition built up over hundreds of years, his own image was somewhat tarnished among those in Japan that were interested in assessing who he was as a person with an open mind.
Traveling Abroad Successfully Rule 2
The second guideline is that if you are American, you may end up being behind by virtue of your behavior. This can be seen in the tale of an American corporate leader who was recently attacked in Buenos Aires by Americans that were living there and trying to be socially competitive. In that situation, Argentines, French, Italians, and British citizens came to his aid, decrying the beastly “Americans” and the companies that they worked for. For those Americans that were employees of American corporations, the negative impact from their actions damaged the reputations of their employers among the local population.
Traveling Abroad Successfully Rule 3
A third rule that is helpful to follow is to try and make certain that you do not say something that will be interpreted incorrectly in another language. While most of the gaffes that occur while one is travelling are humorous in nature, it pays to study a little in advance of travelling and always ask someone who can interpret if you have any questions. When the Japanese emperor visited the United States in the 1990s for the first time in decades, the party that was held for him at the White House was a huge affair that was intended to show how important the American relationship with Japan was. Everything went swimmingly until the Japanese emperor was introduced as he made his entrance as ‘The emperor of China’. People still gave him a big hand, but the effect was a bit different than intended.
Traveling Abroad Successfully Rule 4
The fourth essential etiquette guideline is to open your mind to accept cultural differences that you may not be open to at home. As long as it is legal or acceptable in another culture, you should consider yourself as being in Rome for the duration of your stay, doing as Romans will. A simple example is that in many Asian countries, people do not wear shorts unless they are performing athletic activity. So even though it may be a hot day and you find yourself near the beach, you might do better from a local perspective if you avoid donning shorts until you are actually near the water.
Traveling Abroad Successfully Rule 5
Finally, one of the most enjoyable parts of another culture is learning about their diet and their food customs. With effort, you can be eating like a local within a couple of weeks. In Italy and other parts of Europe, for example, the appropriate place to go within a coffee shop if you are not paying extra to sit down is the counter, where drinks are served and consumed while standing up.
